


benrey epic emo moments feat. tommy

by MonstrifraMinerva



Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware, Half-Life
Genre: Gen, benrey is the one character that u can go 'hes not dead hes just resting :)' and have it be accurate, takes place btwn the act 4 finale and the bank robberies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24515377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MonstrifraMinerva/pseuds/MonstrifraMinerva
Summary: *thinks about how benrey is chill and much nicer to gordon during the robberies* inch resting......
Relationships: Benrey & Tommy Coolatta
Comments: 6
Kudos: 141





	benrey epic emo moments feat. tommy

**Author's Note:**

> that hl2vrai footage that played when benrey hacked the stream was 100% him trying to recreate the game on his own and now im sad about it

He’d tried so hard. He had built enough power being stuck in the void, enough resources to do it all on his own. He didn’t need them, he could make everything himself, without them. That would show them for trying to kill him. He could just go off in his own little world and do it all again, but better this time, and without having to bend to their dumb rules of logic. 

But it had failed, inevitably, as he had deep down known it would, no matter how much he tried to tell himself it could succeed. Without them there was no direction, nothing for him to trail behind or track. Even his own pathetic excuses of models couldn’t do anything, no matter how much he tried to project the others onto them. 

Whatever. Back to the void it was, then. At least with the nothingness of the void, there wasn’t anything around to remind him of the stupid- fuckin stupid-

“Benrey.” 

He turned. Tommy was there. 

Benrey suddenly became very aware of his own being. 

“How have- how have you been doing in, um, here?” Tommy asked, purposely looking down at his shoes rather than up at Benrey. 

Benrey briefly thought about how odd it was that Tommy could stand in the void as if it were just another room, but then his brain connected the dots to a bigger issue: “How’d you get here?” 

Tommy recoiled, covering his ears quickly. Oh, right. He hadn’t talked to anyone in a while. His voice was probably overwhelming, to put it mildly. 

“Please, Benrey, inside- inside voices,” Tommy whined. “I can’t understand you through your- through your static.” 

Benrey let himself become more composed, taking his time to stabilize himself in order to talk. “How, uh… how’d ya get here? Didn’t think you could uh… yeah.” 

“Do you think my dad’s the only one in my, uh, family with, uh….” Tommy gestured vaguely with his hands as he struggled to find the words, “with abilities? Just because I don’t use them as much, doesn’t mean I don’t- don’t have them.” 

Benrey nodded. “So, whatcha… doin’ here? Finally realize that uh, Gordon sucks? Come crawling back to your old pal Benrey?” 

Tommy chuckled. “Not quite,” he said, with that sing-songy lilt to his words that Benrey recognized in Tommy’s rare moments of smugness. “Mr. Freeman- Gordon, he’s been great, actually. We’ve been, um, hanging out a lot.” 

“Sounds lame.” 

“Benrey, I-” 

“Fuckin… tea parties with loser Gordon…” 

“Benrey. Please.” 

The guard (could he even call himself that anymore?) closed his mouth, but slowly grinded his teeth in irritation. 

“I came as- as soon as I could, I really did. But it’s been, um, a couple months? Since Black- Black Mesa, I mean, and us… defeating you. I couldn’t really- I didn’t have much of an option, Benrey.” Tommy finally looked up at his friend, although he still had to squint. “We couldn’t get to you until now. You were too…” he paused, struggling to find the correct terms again, “too gone. Away doing… whatever. But, you’re here now, so… hi.” 

“Hi.” 

Both of them waited in silence for a bit, neither one being much for talking. Just being in proximity, Tommy playing with his shirt hem and Benrey floating in the void, helped them regain their usual comfort around each other. 

“So, how’s uh, Feetman?” Benrey asked suddenly, now ready to open up slightly. 

“Oh! Gordon’s been great!” Tommy piped up, smoothing out his shirt. “He’s been over my house a whole- whole bunch of times already, and we- we talk about everything! Not even just about what happened at Black Mesa, but about, um, our day, and any job interviews we’ve had, and- and Sunkist, and Joshua! He even brings Joshua over sometimes and- and he’s such a cute kid, Benrey, you have to meet him! He plays with Sunkist while Gordon and I talk, and it’s just- just- Gordon doesn’t treat me like a kid anymore!” Tommy clenched and unclenched his hands repeatedly in excitement. “It’s like, we’re real friends now, and he, he-” 

Tommy cut himself off as he noticed Benrey’s miffed glare. “You’re mad.” 

“…huh?” 

“You’re mad that I- that I’m friends with Gordon.” 

“Pssh, Tommy…” 

“I know you- you like him, Benrey, I’m not blind. You’re mad that Gordon and I are friends and you’re here.” 

“Wha…no, bro…” 

“You can’t keep deflecting, Benrey, this isn’t the, um, time for that.” 

Benrey grunted and crossed his arms. 

Tommy wrung his hands, slowly and meticulously, while he thought about what to say. “Listen, I know you don’t like talking about, um, serious stuff, but you can’t pretend that nothing’s happening. You’re just letting it fester, and it’s not good for you. You’re just hurting yourself.” He lowered himself into a seating position and patted the nothingness beside him. “So, let’s talk it out, right here. Just- just you and me.” 

Benrey begrudgingly floated his way over and sat next to Tommy, realizing that there was a more or less “invisible” floor around the man. “What, are ya gonna lecture me about this, bro? Am I gonna get a good scolding?” 

“No lecture, I’m going to talk with you. About Gordon.” 

“Okay.” 

“I know that you, um, that you like him. In a romantic way.” 

A silent nod from the guard. 

“And, you- you’re angry at him, for ‘killing’ you.” 

Another nod. 

“But, Benrey…” Tommy trailed off for a moment, collecting his thoughts. “You can’t treat him like how you did. He doesn’t know you like I do. I know that you’re always- you’re always joking, and it means you’re having fun, and you like being around us. Mr.- Gordon, though, he doesn’t know that. I think that- that he thinks that you really hate him. He doesn’t understand that you’re just, um, like this.” 

“Mm.” 

“So, I know that you’re mad, and you- and you think that him being angry and ‘killing’ you was some sort of rejection? But, I don’t think that he even knew how you, um, how you felt. Maybe if you talked to him, and- and told him-” 

“No.” 

“No?” 

“No.” 

Tommy exhaled sharply. “You need to be more open about this, Benrey. Please. If you really- really like him, then you need to be honest about it, and talk to him in a way that he can understand.” 

“So, what, I act like you or somethin’?” Benrey asked sarcastically. 

“No, not like me, or- or anyone else,” Tommy replied as he shook his head. “All I ask is that you be… nicer? Or, uh, more casual? Like you are with me.” He took one of Benrey’s hands in his own, causing the guard to look up at him. “You’re a great guy, Benrey, and you’re fun to be around. You just have to make him see that, without antagonizing him.” 

“How do I do that?” Benrey looked up at Tommy with eyes that anyone else would see as having the same usual apathy, but Tommy knew they were pleading. 

“Well, I’d say to act less, um, bitter? Try to act how you are when you- when you’re hanging out with me. You’re so… ugh, what’s the word… stiff? Around Gordon. I don’t think I’ve ever even heard you laugh around him. When you’re so trite like that, I think you come off more- more serious than you actually are, and so he’s just as serious back to you.” 

“Dude, when did you become, like, a therapist? You look like you got this all figured out.” Benrey freed his hand from Tommy’s grip hesitantly. “I need to be payin’ you for this stuff, bro.” 

“Aw, well,” Tommy said sheepishly, “I just care about my- my friends a lot, that’s all.” 

“You’re such a cool dude, Tommy. I missed you in here.” 

Tommy grinned from ear to ear. “I missed you too! Once you come back, if, uh, you want to come back, we can all put the past behind us!” 

Benrey cracked a small smile. “Yeah, I guess. Eventually.” 

Tommy rose from his spot on the “floor” and held out his hand to help Benrey up. After the guard stood up, Tommy cleared his throat to signal he was about to speak. 

“We’re um… planning on robbing a bank next week. A couple- couple banks, actually. The job market hasn't been kind to the science team.” 

“…alright.” 

“If you’re able to come back around then, and, um, want to join us, you’re welcome to.” 

“Okay.” 

“Don’t feel pressured to stay the whole time, if you don’t want to, and if you want to come and be mad and yell at Gordon for everything, then, uh, then I guess that’s okay too. I don’t blame you.” 

Benrey nodded. 

“I have to go now, but I’ll, uh, see you soon! I hope. I don’t think I need to tell you how to find me,” Tommy joked, holding his arms out for Benrey to bring it in. 

“Yeah, I’ll figure it out, dude, you know me,” Benrey replied, wrapping his arms around his friend. He had missed Tommy’s hugs while in the void, so he let himself hug his friend longer than he usually would. He picked up Tommy’s familiar scent of artificial orange and squeezed the man tighter. 

“Benrey, you have to let me go eventually,” Tommy giggled, trying to unwrap himself from his friend’s grip. 

“Noooo,” Benrey whined. “I gotta give my best homie the best hugs.” 

“Aww,” Tommy squeezed his friend back. “You really did miss me, huh?” 

“Maybe.” 

Finally, Benrey let go to let Tommy leave. He wished that he could leave the void with his friend, but he wasn’t rash enough to go before it was safe. He didn’t want to fizzle out and have to come back, and repeat the process in the void all over again. 

“Remember what we talked about,” Tommy whisper-yelled as he backed away, sending the guard a wink. “I’ll see ya later.” 

Then he was gone. Even Benrey couldn’t comprehend how: there was no door, no dramatic flash as he disappeared. He was just gone. 

And Benrey was alone with the void.


End file.
